COL - what is the one thing you haven't found a replacement for?

[TheMindfulMum]

I have made countless changes to our weekly shop to try and reduce our outgoings. I've always been quite a savvy shopper since having children and switched from branded to own brand for quite a few items to try and make our money go further. Since COL though other items have had to be substituted. Weetabix and cheddar cheese are now supermarket own brand and we've got used to this. There are a few things though that I just cannot find a good substitute for and adjust to...

Beef OXO cubes - I like being able to crumble it over joints of meat before roasting as well as mince meat for bolognese. I can't find anything that crumbles and tastes as good as OXO does.

Frosties. Need I say any more? Own brand doesn't taste as good. Most are soft and taste stale from the day you open the box.

What can't you find a good alternative for? Or what have you managed to find that's great and costs less?

Nutribrex gluten free cereal. It's £5 a box and there is no own brand to downgrade to. Same with GF honey nut cornflakes.

@TiredandLate absolutely no other cottage cheese compares withlongley farm- food of the gods!!

Fairy washing up liquid
Bistro gravy
Tartare sauce has to be M&S
Organic eggs

Sacla No. 5 organic vegetarian pesto.
£3.60 a jar!

It's because, to make it organic, they can't use the DOP cheese that all other 'normal' pesto uses. Which isn't vegetarian.

I do occasionally buy cheaper pesto, if it is only the children who will be eating it, but that does complicate matters.

Sometimes make my own, and freeze it. Use roasted sunflower seeds, rather than pine nuts. And "Italian hard cheese", which is vegetarian too. But, depending on the price of the fresh basil, often no cheaper.

Some spreadable butter is basically butter mixed with margarine in varying proportions depending on brand, while some is made from milk/salt like normal butter, but that has been treated to remove the parts of the cream that solidify at fridge temperature. Either way it’s an ultra processed food like margarine, and best avoided on health grounds never mind cost!

Definitely Sacla pesto for me. I have tried own brands from Tesco, Asda (and the extra special one!) and Sainsbury. They all taste wrong to me. I only buy it as a treat now as it is expensive for my budget.

Have you tried lidl Coke X? I would never have own brand coke until I tried this.

Fairy Liquid - cannot stand the smell of other liquids

Hellmans Mayo
Roses Lime Cordial
Heinz Bake Beans

Love Taylor's Lazy Sunday coffee but Tesco/Asda Colombian is pretty good . Weaning myself off.

Any good coffee alternatives?

Lurpak, heinz beans and fairy liquid are the only items I won't compromise on

I haven’t, and I’m going to Lidl today…

Thanks for that. I buy pure unsalted butter.

I'd still buy it if that rubbish was given away !

But block butter is considerably more expensive than spreadable.

Sainsburys own brand spreadable £4.38/Kg
Sainsburys own brand block butter £7.56/Kg

I like the spreadable because it tastes like butter, is far cheaper and spreads from the fridge. Can't really see the benefits of leaving block butter to go rancid on the side rather than using the spreadable straight from the fridge.

For those who stopped buying hellmans mayo, I make my own. It's mjch nicer than shop bought and much cheaper.

https://www.myparisiankitchen.com/en/mayonnaise/

I still buy Lavazza coffee but when I'm doing a grocery shop from my home country, I nulk buy coffee

Yeah, I've not found anything that can rival it.

I found some Lidl fake Soleros last month and they were really good, but they haven't been in stock since.

I also use Lidl brown sauce and ketchup (having kicked the ruinously expensive Stokes habit!).

I agree that Longley Farm cottage cheese is unmatched by any other - it's my favourite with a baked potato too.

The big benefits of standard butter for me are that it’s much less processed, and it tastes better. I don’t find it goes rancid, but my kitchen never really gets above 22 degrees or so. It costs more as it has more butter in it.

The light version of Sainsbury’s spreadable is only 38% actual butter, and the ‘standard’ version still just 60% butter. If you take the standard version (60%) the cost per kilo of butter in the pack is almost exactly the same cost as real butter, and you can guarantee that the rapeseed oil they put in its place is cheaper, so they want you to buy the more processed one so they make more profit :)

For sure it will be less processed and I guess "purer" as in more butter. It's butter whipped with rapeseed oil to make it softer, I think? But to my (probably unsophisticated) palate, it tastes like butter (as opposed the Clover/I can't believe its not butter type spreads which are horrible), it's just over half the price and I can keep it in the fridge. Spreadable butter all the way for me! The only times I've had block butter that I felt tasted superior to a standard own brand spreadable was in France (a big block in a red and white checked wrapper that was super creamy, with a hint of "farm" taste), and when we churn our own from left over cream, which I also think its creamier than the shop bought blocks.

Hellman's Mayo
Yorkshire tea
Tony's chocoloney chocolate!
Bacofilm cling film as it's the only one that makes sense.
Bisto gravy granules
Has to be proper weatabix for me !
Warbutons bread
Anchor / country life butter
Pampers nappies!

Also.. mutti tinned tomatoes!

Delmonte now do a salad cream. 70% less fat - same as heinz - but cheaper. I've converted
Heinz is £3.40 in tesco, delmonte is in the £2 range. Heinz have lost me !

Andrex toilet rolls . We are using velvet comfort but no where near the same

The only thing I have swapped but gone back to is Paxo stuffing mix! I actually prefer the non branded foods that I’m eating now.

Currently in offer in Iceland , really good discount !

I live in Northern Ireland and once you taste Irish butter there's no going back its delicious

Dowe Egbert’s coffee and Yorkshire tea. That’s it, everything else is own brand. Heinz beans have been watery for over 5 years now, no idea why anyone bothers with them!